Man with same name as Bondi Beach ‘gunman’ fears for life after hate mail
A Sydney man who was wrongly identified as one of the alleged Bondi Beach shooters has said his life is at risk after being flooded with hate messages.
Naveed Akram, 30, shares the same name as a 24-year-old suspect accused of killing 15 people alongside his father, Sajid Akram, who was shot dead by police at the scene.
Mr Akram, who has no connection to either suspect, said he was ‘in shock’ after finding out his Facebook pictures had been used in social media posts condemning the attackers.
He has issued a plea for help after receiving a torrent of abuse only to be told police would not do anything about it.
‘As per media reports, one of the shooters their name is Naveed Akram. My name is also Naveed Akram, unfortunately our names are the same’, he said in a video posted on X.
‘I just want you to know that that person is a different person. That is not me, and I have nothing to do with that incident or that person.’
‘I really need your help because this is a life-threatening event and there can be many issues that can arise from this,’ he said.
‘I can’t even go outside safely.’
One widely-circulated post shows a picture of Mr Akram smiling at a cricket game next to a long-range shot of the 24-year-old suspect, who bears almost no resemblance to him.
The 30-year-old, who is of Pakistani origin and has lived in Australia since 2018, expressed his disappointment at the official response to his pleas.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I told police this thing is happening and people are using my pictures and it is putting my life in danger,’ he said.
‘Police said you just have to stay home and just deactivate your social media accounts and it will settle very soon.
‘So there was not much help from the police, I was surprised at that point.’
Mr Akram urged social media users to ‘do your research’ before sharing posts that can ‘ruin someone’s life’.
The suspect of the same name and his father allegedly opened fire on a crowd of more than 1,000 people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in the beachside Archer Park on Sunday.
A ten-year-old girl and a British-born rabbi are among the dead, while dozens of people are in hospital.
A local fruit seller, Ahmed al Ahmed, managed to wrestle a rifle off the older of the suspects before the latter was shot dead by police.
The 24-year-old suspect was critically injured before he was apprehended by police and remains in hospital.
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